Murder Mystery Cruise, The Conclusion By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com Female detective solves the case & fights the murderer NOTE: This document contains the solution to "Murder Mystery Cruise," one of my stories. If you want to enjoy the mystery and be surprised, read the other part of the story first! NOTE #2: The protagonist of this story, Detective Sara Ramos, is a character in one of my other stories, Assassin by Night. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... "You're the murderer," said Sara as she pointed her finger directly at Bill. "You're the one who stabbed Kelly to death." Everyone gasped and stared. Bill jumped to his feet angrily. "That's a lie!" he said. "I didn't do it!" Sara sighed. She wished that real life was like those Perry Mason TV shows, where the killers ALWAYS confessed when Perry accused them. "No, you did it, Bill," said Sara. "And here's how I know. That stalker letter. It's only logical that the stalker Kelly was afraid of was the killer. But the stalker was only known by his initials, which were J.W., and none of us had a last name beginning with W. There was one of us - Janet - who had a first name that began with J, but the letter clearly stated that the stalker was a man. That really had me puzzled for a while." She turned to Melanie. "But you helped me with the clue for this one." "Really? How?" said Melanie. "When you said that calm was your middle name. It took me a while, but then it hit me. What if, instead of being someone's first and last initials, J.W. was someone's first and middle initials? Then there would be one W on this boat - William, or Bill. Some people like to go by their middle names. And I have a very strong feeling that when we do a background check on you, Bill, we'll find that William is indeed your middle name, and that you have a first name that starts with J." Bill scowled and sputtered. "That still doesn't prove I killed Kelly!" he said. "No, it doesn't," agreed Sara. "Not by itself. But it provided the motivation for me to review my notes about you very carefully. And then I found something. Something you said yourself, Bill. That's what condemned you." "Oh yeah?" snarled Bill. "What?" "Well, first of all," said Sara, "I had in my notes who came out to the body when. Ashley was there first, she was the one who found the body. Tom and the captain came out next. Then Melanie and me. Then George, who examined the body and then covered it with a blanket. Finally, you, Nick, and Janet came out." "Get to the point," growled Bill. "I'm getting there," said Sara, smiling dangerously. "When I questioned you, you said that you felt sick when you saw the blood on Kelly's chest. I have it right here in my notes. But you couldn't have seen the blood on her chest! You didn't come out until after George had covered the body with the blanket, and the blanket's been there ever since. The only way you could have seen blood on her chest is if you were the one who stabbed her. You probably made that up to make your story sound more sympathetic." She flipped quickly through her notes. "George and Ashley also mentioned seeing the blood, but they both had a chance to see the body before it was covered." Everyone stared at Bill, who looked as if he was about to pee in his pants. He sputtered and stammered, and finally let out an enraged animal roar. "All right, it was me!" he said. "I did it! That skanky bitch had to die!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol, pointing it at the captain. "Change course!" he demanded. "Take me to Lost Beach!" Lost Beach was an isolated stretch of coastline south of town. The captain, fearful, changed the boat's course. Bill then pointed his gun at the other passengers. "Everybody put your cell phones in a pile right here on this chair!" he ordered. "And no funny stuff. Anyone who tries to be a hero is going to get shot." As the passengers placed their cell phones on the chair under the watchful and fearful eyes of Bill, Sara mentally kicked herself for a) not bringing her gun and b) not searching the others when she had a chance to. "All right," said Bill. "When we get to the beach, I'm going to take off with all your cell phones." He turned to the captain. "You really should keep that engine room locked," he snickered. "I snuck in there when you went for a bathroom break and disabled the radio. By the time you reach the authorities, I'll be long gone. If everybody cooperates, then no one else has to get hurt." Sara knew she couldn't just let Bill get away. She gave a barely perceptible nod to Melanie, indicating that she wanted her to create a distraction. "Why did you do it, Bill?" asked Melanie. "Why did you have to kill her?" "Because that bitch betrayed me!" shouted Bill. "We used to date each other," he continued. "We were a happy couple. But then, she got it into her blonde head that she wanted to be a big-shot actress. So she gets breast implants and plastic surgery, and goes from being an average-looking girl to being a major hottie. But then, of course, she had no use for a guy like me anymore, what with all those hunks hitting on her newfound body. So she just dumped me." "That was a really horrible thing for her to do," said Melanie. Unseen by Bill, Sara was slowly and quietly edging her way closer to him. "Yes, it was a horrible thing!" said Bill. "I tried to get her back, but she wouldn't listen. So finally, I decided to get plastic surgery myself and make myself into the kind of man she wanted. But they screwed up the surgery! I'm still ugly! That's when I decided that if I couldn't have her, I could at least have revenge." Sara was now quite close to Bill. He continued his angry rant. "The botched plastic surgery at least did one thing," he said. "It made me look different and allowed me to get close to Kelly without her suspecting it. I was trying to decide on the best way to kill her. When I heard she was going to be doing this murder mystery cruise, I thought it would be a perfect symbolic place to do it. My new face allowed me to get on board without her recognizing me. While Nick and I were in the dining room and he wasn't looking, I snatched a knife from the table and put it in my pocket. Then all I had to do was wait for Kelly to be alone, just for a second, with no one else looking. I stabbed her and chucked the knife overboard. But I made sure to use some insurance, both with disabling the radio and with bringing this." He waved the gun meaningfully. "Now that I've gotten my revenge, I can spend the rest of my life in peace and - " With a feminine warrior cry, Sara performed a lovely kick that sent the gun sailing out of Bill's hand and into the ocean with a PLOP. She loved the loose miniskirt because it allowed her to perform high kicks without ripping it. Her sexy black panties were briefly visible as she kicked. Bill screamed in rage and turned on Sara angrily. "I'm going to kick your ass for that!" he yelled. Some of the others began to step forward to stop Bill, but Sara held up her hand to stop them. "It's okay," she said. "I can handle this alone." Bill raised his fists. "Yeah, bring it on, bitch," he snarled. Sara rolled her eyes. He was about three inches taller than her and maybe 40 pounds heavier, but in the course of her career she had beaten up many guys that were much bigger and tougher than him. He took a swing at her face. She dodged it easily, then stung him with a quick jab. He growled and swung another punch, which she ducked. She then nailed him with a left that landed on his nose, followed by a right to the jaw. Bill staggered backward and let out a string of curses. Sara drove in for the attack, kneeing him in the stomach, then smashing her left fist into his eye, and finally performing a strong spin kick that sent her opponent crashing to the deck. Bill groaned and staggered to his feet. "You may be good at murdering defenseless women, but you're kind of a pussy in a fair fight," taunted Sara. He let out an animal-type roar and swung his fist at her stomach. She tensed her abs as she saw the punch coming. Her hard, solid abs easily absorbed her opponent's attack. Sara was left unhurt, while Bill groaned and shook his fist in pain. She then peformed a quick high kick to his face followed by a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of his head. As he stood there, dizzy, she punched him hard in the stomach. He let out a howl of pain. "What's the matter, forgot to put your shield up?" snickered Sara. "Here, I'll give you some more chances." She smashed several more hard punches into his gut. Bill howled like a wounded animal each time. "I guess you don't have any shielding down there," she chuckled. "Just fat." She knocked him backward with a casual-looking kick to the face. "I'm gonna pound your ass into the ground for this, you nasty whore!" Bill snarled. "Then quit talking and start fighting, wimp," retorted Sara. Bill spat on the deck, then fired a kick at his opponent. Unfortunately for him, Sara grabbed his outstretched ankle before his kick could land. He hopped around uncomfortably on one foot for a few seconds while she laughed at him. Finally, she kicked him hard in the chest, sending him down on his back. He jumped up again and swung a big fist at her pretty face. She grabbed his arm before the punch could hit and twisted it painfully. She then kneed him in the groin several times in rapid succession. Bill, clutching his aching family jewels, dropped to his knees. Sara then knocked him down completely with a knee to his face. She grunted in annoyance as blood from her opponent's nose stained her pretty miniskirt. "You just can't get this right, can you, dipshit," smirked Sara. Bill spat and cursed and began climbing slowly to his feet as best he could. When he had almost made it all the way upright, Sara performed a beautiful standing back handspring, kicking her opponent in the face as she flipped. All the spectators had a nice view of her panties while she was flipping, and she heard two or three appreciative whistles. The force of her creative but brutal kick sent Bill right back down to the deck. Sara smoothed her skirt and rolled up her sleeves, revealing her muscular forearms. "Do you give up now, loser?" she asked. Bill sat up and spat blood from his mouth. "I ain't surrenderin' to no chick!" he shouted. He stumbled back to his feet. "Have it your way then," shrugged Sara. She delivered a brutal punch to his face, knocking him backwards. She then peformed a pretty front handspring towards him, giving the audience another view of her underwear. As Bill stood there, painfully dizzy, she balanced on her right leg while firing a fast and vicious set of kicks to his face with her left leg. Her black boot impacted his face again and again, releasing blood. She finally paused after about fifteen kicks. Bill looked ready to throw up and pass out at the same time. "Say good night," said Sara, imitating Chuck Norris's line on "Walker, Texas Ranger." With that, she launched an incredibly powerful spin kick that smashed into Bill's head. The force of her amazing kick sent him sailing over the railing and into the water. The spectators just stood there in silence for a moment, then burst into a round of applause led by Melanie. Even grumpy Janet and the grumpy captain joined in the clapping. Sara smiled, blushed, and took a bow. "Help me fish him out of there," said Sara, pointing to Bill's unconscious body floating in the water nearby. "Why can't we just leave him there to drown?" growled Tom. Sara got the feeling that he had had a crush on Kelly and was in a very vengeful mood right now. "Bill will get what's coming to him when he has his day in court," said Sara. She, Melanie, and the captain then hauled Bill back on board and laid him out on the deck. Melanie dried him off with a towel, while the captain produced a length of rope, with which Sara tied Bill's hands. (Along with not bringing her gun, she hadn't brought her handcuffs either). The captain then went into the engine room to change course again, this time back to Pier 23. About five minutes later, Bill woke up. Sara leaned in close to him. "Pretty humbling, isn't it, to be exposed as the killer and then be beaten up by a girl, huh?" she said. Bill simply stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded his head. In contrast to his belligerent attitude earlier, all the fight seemed to have gone out of him now. She remembered something he had said earlier. "You said you liked cars because there were specific rules for fixing them," she said. "You were really pissed at Kelly because there were no specific rules for dealing with her." Bill nodded again. Sara felt a tiny bit of sympathy for Bill, but only a tiny bit. She had to admit that she had still enjoyed kicking his ass. The lights of the harbor grew brighter and brighter. Soon, the passengers could see the red and blue lights of the police cars waiting by the dock. Melanie walked over to Sara. "You go, girl," she said. Sara smiled and gave her friend a hug. "I guess a chick like me just can't get away from a mystery," she said. THE END silverstar222b@yahoo.com